


The Plight, the Kiss, and the Meddling Time Lord

by dragonwings948



Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Gallifrey (Big Finish Audio)
Genre: Dubious Morality, F/M, Fear, Friendship, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, In case you were wondering, Kissing, Love Confessions, Meddling, Near Death Experiences, Romance, Shock, Suspense, that's Brax
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:40:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27516235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonwings948/pseuds/dragonwings948
Summary: While returning back to Gallifrey from a field mission, Leela and Narvin get caught up in impossible circumstances that force them to stare death in the face and they realise there are things they should have said to each other a long time ago. But even as they're miraculously rescued, there's something fishy about the whole situation, and no one can make sense of it; apart from Brax, of course...
Relationships: Leela (Doctor Who)/Narvin (Doctor Who)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Another Leela/Narvin love confession fic? From me? It's more likely than you think.

“Well, that’s that, I suppose.” Narvin flicked the control for the TARDIS doors and breathed a long sigh of relief as he watched them close. It seemed rarer and rarer that field missions ended without incident, but thankfully this one had.

Leela leaned easily against the console like it was a table rather than a technical marvel. “I was expecting to have to use my knife to convince these Kewelis to give up this vortex man…manip…this time travel device.”

“I was expecting that, too. Romana painted them as much more violent.” He shrugged. “I can’t complain. We deserve an easy mission for once.” He smiled at Leela and she grinned back at him from across the console. He looked to the controls and set the TARDIS on course for Gallifrey. Now he just needed to check in with Romana to let her know the mission had been a success and—

The TARDIS jolted. Narvin was thrown forward, the edge of the console digging straight into his gut. Leela stumbled backwards and fell to the ground. She called to him, her voice nearly lost as the cloister bell tolled out a dire warning.

Narvin caught his breath as the engines took on a particularly sickly sound. He shut out the rest of the world and focused on the controls, trying to figure out what was happening and how he could fix it. The readings showed that they were being forcefully dragged out of the time vortex. But how? By what?

Before he could get any further, it was his turn to be tossed onto the floor as the room tilted sideways. His shoulder struck the ground and he cried out in pain.

“Narvin!” Leela half-crawled to him, grabbing onto the edge of the console with one hand as the capsule shuddered. “Are you hurt?”

“I’ll be fine,” he hissed, though pain throbbed through his shoulder. That was going to leave a bruise. He pushed past the pain and looked up to the console. He had to figure out what was happening.

Leela rose to her feet and held out a hand as if reading his mind. He took it and allowed her to help him up. He gripped the console tightly and braced himself, determined not to be knocked over again.

“What is happening?” Leela asked.

Narvin looked over the controls. Every reading from the TARDIS was rapidly declining. Their speed was decreasing, too. There was no explanation for what was going on.

“I don’t know,” he confessed. He pressed a button to try to get a more accurate reading from the engines, but he never got to see the result.

Everything stopped.

The lights went off. The TARDIS became still. An immediate hush fell over the room. All that was left was their heavy breathing.

“Have we been attacked?” Leela asked in a whisper.

Narvin blinked, his eyes adjusting to the darkness. He blindly swiped a hand at the controls to see if anything would happen. Nothing. Not even a blink.

“I don’t think so,” he replied at the same volume. “It’s like the TARDIS just…died.”

“Died? TARDISes do not just die!”

“Not usually, no, and never without reason.” Narvin tried some of the controls again. No response. They wouldn’t even be able to get the doors open.

The panic started to set in. They were stranded somewhere, probably in the middle of space, and no one else knew where they were. He hadn’t even had a chance to report back about the mission. Without the TARDIS shields, the air would slowly, but inevitably, leak out. They’d suffocate in the darkness; that was, if a random asteroid or piece of space junk didn’t crash into them first.

He was going to die. _He was going to die._

Leela’s warm hand grasped his. He took in a long breath, suddenly realising that he’d come close to hyperventilating. The touch grounded him and gave him hope all at the same time. It wasn’t over yet.

He looked over at her. “The engine room. If we get there, we can see what’s happened and figure out how to fix it.”

Leela smiled. “Good, a plan.” She looked off toward the corridor. “Do you know the way in the dark?”

“We’ll see.”

As they ventured into the corridors, he kept a hold on Leela’s hand—simply for practical reasons, of course. He could see better than her in the dark and he didn’t want her to hurt herself. They stumbled around through the corridors, speaking quietly on occasion, as the volume seemed appropriate for the darkness. Narvin found himself getting irrationally scared as he wondered if something could have gotten inside the TARDIS and shut everything down. But that was impossible, he reminded himself. Nothing could get inside the TARDIS without his knowledge.

Leela’s steady presence beside him kept him sane as he tried to recognise the correct path. Even the most disciplined of TARDISes liked to shift rooms around sometimes, and it took several minutes for him to be sure that he was going the right way.

“Are we close?” Leela asked.

“I think…”

The floor bucked. Narvin lost his balance and fell, losing his grip on Leela.

“What in Rassilon’s name—”

_“TIME LORD VESSEL, YOU HAVE ENTERED INTO DALEK SPACE! YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!”_

Narvin couldn’t even find the words. First, the TARDIS died, then Daleks attacked them?

“Daleks?” Leela asked incredulously.

Narvin uttered a bitter laugh. “Seems like there’s just enough power for them to transmit to the TARDIS.” The thought ran through his head again. _“Power!_ Leela, if there’s any power at all, we might be able to get out of here!” He jumped to his feet and took her hand again. The engine room wasn’t far, he knew it. If they could just…

A harsh _boom_ shook the entire ship, forcing Narvin to brace himself against the wall to stay upright. An alarm wailed frailly; the hull was compromised.

It was over.

There was nothing he could do. The only thing he could fight for was a few seconds more with Leela. Just a moment to say goodbye.

There was a dark outline of a doorway just in front of him. “In here!” He opened the door and tugged Leela inside after him, shutting the door tightly. “It won’t do much,” he said, “but it should buy us a few more seconds.” _A few more seconds before they died._

“We are hiding?” She tugged her hand from his. “We cannot give up.”

“There’s nothing we can do!” he said emphatically, turning on her. “It’s a wonder we aren’t dead already, and the Daleks will only blow bigger holes into the TARDIS.”

He watched the understanding flood into her eyes and he sighed, softening. “I’m sorry, Leela. I don’t want to argue with you now.”

Leela laughed a little. She _laughed._ Didn’t she realise what was happening? “That is new.”

He tried to laugh too, but it was caught in his throat. Another jolt shook the TARDIS and Narvin reached out to steady Leela at the same time she did the same for him. And there they stood, holding onto each other’s arms. Narvin didn’t want to let go. In front of him, he saw everything that could have been if they would have had more time.

“Leela…” His mouth was so dry that he wasn’t sure if he could form the words. He swallowed. What did he even want to say? His mind was so frenzied, everything within him screaming that death was coming. And yet there was something he had to say, something he had to do before…

“Leela, I—” The TARDIS rocked again and he lost his footing. Leela kept a hold on him, pulling him closer to keep him upright. She raised one hand and stroked her knuckles across his cheek. Despite the fact that his hearts were already thundering, they seemed to do a backflip at the gentle touch.

“I know,” she said softly, then leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on his lips.

For a moment, Narvin couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t lose this. He couldn’t lose _her_.

He stepped closer, unable to find the right words, the ones that would explain what he felt and how much he wished he would have told her sooner. Terror was slowly taking over every inch of his body, rendering him unable to do anything at all. He realised that he was still holding onto her. If it wasn’t for Leela, he’d be a trembling mass on the ground.

“I don’t want to die,” he choked out.

“Shhh, Narvin.” She pulled him close, embracing him tightly. “Death is not something to be feared. It is simply a new adventure.”

He wrapped his arms around her and tried hard not to cry. He couldn’t cry in his last moments, he wouldn’t…

Then there came a sound.

Leela went stiff, which meant he wasn’t hallucinating. Narvin let go of her and raised his head to watch a shadowy shape slowly materialise in front of him.

It couldn’t be.

Leela spun. “A TARDIS?”

It solidified in a few seconds. The door opened to reveal Braxiatel, who motioned them in. “Inside, now!”

He didn’t need to say it twice. Narvin ran right by Leela’s side, straight into the console room.

“Ace, doors!” Brax called.

But they were already shut right on Narvin’s heels. Ace was at the console, expression deep in concentration as she went about setting coordinates.

Narvin tried to catch his breath and come to grips at the same time. He could hardly believe what he was seeing. “Is this…a _lesson?”_

The time rotor began moving and the TARDIS engines started up. Ace crossed her arms. “Oh, no ‘thanks for saving our skins, Ace! You just pulled off a really difficult manoeuvre and we would’ve been toast without you!’”

“You landed a TARDIS…inside another TARDIS?” Leela asked, eyebrows drawn together in confusion.

Narvin stared at her. They had almost just _died_ and that was what she was worried about?

“Yep.” Ace grinned. “How’d I do, Brax?”

“Is this all a game to you?” Narvin exploded, his voice coming out much higher than he’d have liked. “We nearly suffocated and got blown to pieces at the same time!”

“Yes,” Brax said drily, “and we _saved_ you. A word of thanks would be welcome.”

“Thank you,” Leela said.

Narvin still couldn’t quite figure this out. This was all too strange; something wasn’t right… “How did you find us?” he asked.

“It wasn’t easy to track you,” Braxiatel explained, joining Ace at the console and giving a small nod of approval as he looked over the readings. “We had to search every place along your projected path—”

“It took _ages,”_ Ace interjected.

Brax threw an unimpressed glance at her before continuing. “Eventually, I realised that your TARDIS was cut off from the Eye of Harmony—”

“What?” Narvin exclaimed. “But how?”

“What is this Eye of Harmony?” Leela put in.

Brax breathed in a deep sigh and frowned. “If you’ll let me finish…once we knew what had happened, we were able to find the exact time and place your TARDIS had lost power.”

“But that still doesn’t explain—” Narvin was cut off by the landing of the TARDIS.

“Romana will be waiting for you in the Tower,” Braxiatel said. “She’ll be anxious to know you’re well.”

Narvin’s hands tightened into fists. He realised that he was trembling, probably still in shock, but _nothing made sense._

“You are not coming with us?” Leela asked. In comparison, Leela didn’t seem to be affected at all by what had happened.

Brax shrugged. “Narvin was right. This is a lesson, and it’s not quite over yet.”

Ace opened the doors and waved. “See ya!”

Narvin still had a million questions and he wanted straight answers from Braxiatel, but Leela was already out the door and his mind still wasn’t quite working. Besides, Braxiatel was right; Romana would be worried about them.

So just like that, he found himself in the TARDIS Bay. His feet mechanically began to walk towards the CIA Tower as he heard Brax’s TARDIS dematerialise behind him. He was barely aware of Leela walking by his side as he tried to make sense of what had just happened.

A minute ago, he’d been in a dead TARDIS, about to die in Leela’s arms.

Now, he was walking through the Capitol like any normal day.

“Narvin? Are you all right?”

Sweat broke out on his forehead. He clasped his hands behind his back to try and keep them from shaking. “I…I should be asking you the same question. You’ve been rather quiet.”

“I have been thinking.”

It had all happened so fast, but when Leela had touched his cheek, when she’d kissed him, held him…all of that replayed in his mind in slow-motion.

“Something about this does not feel right. You feel it too?”

Oh. So she _hadn’t_ been thinking of that.

Narvin considered her words and nodded. “Yes. I was beginning to think it was just me.” He sighed as they approached the entrance to the Tower. “Maybe Romana will have some answers for us.”

But Romana wasn’t inside. No one was, as the view out the window suggested that the hour was late.

“But Braxiatel said she would be here,” Leela said.

Narvin huffed. What was he playing at? “Maybe she’s on her way. We should wait for a minute or two.”

Leela nodded her assent. Narvin walked over to the window and stared out at Gallifrey. He’d never thought he’d see this sight again.

The terror of it washed over him again. He ran a hand through his hair, hardly conscious of his actions, trying to ground himself. His legs were shaking now, trembling uncontrollably.

“Narvin?”

He swallowed hard. “I’m—I’m fine. I think I may just need to sit down.” He moved to get a chair, but Leela was several steps ahead of him as she rushed across the room and brought one back for him. He fell into it like his limbs didn’t even work anymore. He massaged his temples and closed his eyes, slowing down his breathing.

“Narvin, what is wrong?” Leela placed a hand on his back. Just like before, her touch brought him back to reality.

He sighed and shook his head. Leela crouched beside him.

“I’m not as brave as you, Leela,” he said with an attempt at a laugh. “I can’t just stare death in the face and then go on with my life.”

She looked into his eyes. “We are _safe,_ Narvin. You do not need to worry.” She grasped his forearm and squeezed it gently.

He stared at her hand. His whole life he’d hardly ever been touched, and it wasn’t something he’d even known that he’d needed before he’d met Leela. But briefly holding hands, brushing shoulders…it had become more common of late, something he couldn’t say he minded. And the way she’d touched his cheek so tenderly earlier…

Before he could stop himself, he gently took her hand from his arm and brought it to his face. Leela’s eyes softened and Narvin leaned into her touch. She was right; they were safe. Whatever had happened, it was over now.

But he sensed that whatever had passed between them before Brax had arrived was far from over.

“Before Romana comes,” Leela said gently, “there is something I wish to say to you.”

All Narvin could manage was a nod. He’d listen to her say absolutely anything at this point.

She waited a minute or so before she spoke like she was trying to gather the right words. Narvin felt that she was about to say something of great importance and tried even harder to push his fear behind him and focus on the present.

“When…Andred died—even before that, when I found out that he had changed—I did not think that I could love another like I had loved him.” A look of pain flashed through her eyes, something so rare to see in Leela. “For some time, I did not even think that I could go on without him.”

Narvin realised instantly that while Leela always spoke her mind, there were some things she didn’t share with just anyone; and yet now, she was baring her deepest feelings to him.

“You and Romana showed me that there was more. Gallifrey is not my home, but you both made it so. Romana is my best friend, and you, Narvin…”

“I’m your eighteenth favourite time lord?” he joked with a breathless laugh.

Leela chuckled. “Maybe once. But I have come to realise that love has many different forms. I love the Doctor and Romana as friends, perhaps even family; and for a long time I thought that I loved you in the same way.” She paused, her fingertips idly tracing his hairline. “My love for Andred blazed like a wildfire. It was easy for me to see. But my love for you is like a burning star.”

Narvin’s breath caught. His respiratory bypass started to kick in as he simply forgot to breathe while he listened to Leela.

“It was always there in some way, but it took time for me to see it. And when I did, I saw that it was something steady and bright, different than what I have felt for anyone else.”

She watched him, waiting. All he could do was stare at her. What could he say? She loved him. She actually, truly, _loved_ him. He wasn’t sure that anyone had ever said that to him before.

“You are…surprised?”

Narvin managed to swallow. He licked his lips as he tried to figure out what to say. “Not surprised, really.” He looked down, avoiding her eyes. “I think I’ve known for a long time. And I’ve…felt…” He tripped over his own words, so clumsy in comparison to the poetry Leela had spouted moments ago. Leela’s hand wandered over his head, through his hair, across his jaw, and it didn’t make it any easier to concentrate.

He cleared his throat. “I’m a time lord. Emotions…love…it’s not something we really do. But I…” How did he say this? How could he convey to her how much she meant to him when he was only just figuring it out for himself? He thought back to the dark desperation on the drifting TARDIS, the way he’d held on tightly to her hand, clasped onto her thinking he’d never let go again…

“I need you, Leela,” he said, the words rushing out of his mouth. “You’re a part of Gallifrey—a part of _me_ that I can’t live without. In my experience, emotions don’t last; but the way I feel about you isn’t an emotion. I can’t describe it, because I’ve never felt it before, but it’s…strong. It’s…” He mentally cursed his inability to speak as Leela chuckled.

“It is _love,_ Narvin. It is more than an emotion. It is something that cannot be explained with your precious words. It does not need to be said.” Her fingertips gently stroked along his cheek. “I heard it in the way you said my name before Braxiatel rescued us and I saw it in your eyes.”

 _“I know.”_ That’s what she’d told him before. He hadn’t really had the time or mental capacity to realise what it meant in that moment, but he did now.

Narvin reached out to her, hardly knowing what to do. Leela smiled and guided his hand to her cheek just as he’d done earlier. Then, before he could figure out what to do next, Leela was kissing him, but it was different than last time. All at once he could see what she meant, that love was something shown rather than said. It wasn’t the kiss itself that really mattered—although Narvin had to admit it was rather nice—but it was knowing that he could trust her, the warmth of her skin feeling like home, the way she was gentle when he knew she could be so fierce.

And somehow, after the strange series of events that had brought them to this moment, Narvin was able to be the tiniest bit thankful for a near-death experience.


	2. Chapter 2

“All right, fess up.”

Brax looked at Ace from across the console and frowned. “Excuse me?”

 _“Fess. Up._ I’m not stupid, Brax. There weren’t any Daleks out there. I covered for you, now you have to tell me what’s going on.”

Brax crossed his arms, watching her closely. She was more than curious; she was irritated. “And would you care to explain why I have to?”

Ace’s lips pressed into a thin line. “I could just tell Leela and Narvin that none of it was real. Dunno how many regenerations you have left, but I doubt you want to give one up to Leela’s knife.”

“Making threats now, are we?” _Interesting._ Why was she responding so strongly to this?

“I don’t like being kept in the dark,” Ace said, her voice taking on a hard edge.

Brax searched her eyes, trying to look for the reason why. He hadn’t known Ace for very long, but he’d picked up on the fact that she carried burdens she didn’t share with anyone. She liked to take control—now that was telling. He wondered if she’d already been like this, or if his dear brother had made her this way.

“You’ll know in good time,” he said, not willing to lay out all his cards yet. There was still more work to be done.

Ace huffed. “Time lords are all the same,” she muttered.

Brax ignored the remark. “Now, we need to go back in time about twenty minutes.”

Ace seemed to shrug off some of her melancholy as she raised her eyebrows in curiosity. “Is that why you had me land back here so long after we’d left to get Leela and Narvin?”

“You’ll soon find, Ace, that I don’t do anything without reason.” He nodded at the console and Ace got to work. It was only a matter of a few seconds for her to program the TARDIS accordingly and set it in motion. Brax nodded to himself. She was a fast learner.

The TARDIS landed and Ace opened the doors. “Where are we going?”

 _“I’m_ going to the CIA Tower. _You’re_ going to your quarters.”

“Aw, come on!”

Brax gave her his most serious look. “I can promise you, Ace, that you’ll understand everything first thing tomorrow morning.”

Ace frowned. “And you trust me not to tell them about all of this before then?”

“Trust _me_ when I tell you that it’s better they don’t know.”

Ace glared at him, then finally threw up her arms in surrender. “Fine! But if I don’t find out tomorrow like you said, I’m telling them.”

Brax shrugged, already sure that his plan was foolproof. “I suppose that’s fair enough. Goodnight.”

Ace gave one last dramatic huff before stalking out the doors with her hands deep in her pockets. Brax watched her go, wondering if he’d made too much of a gamble. What if she lost her temper and _did_ tell Leela and Narvin the truth?

No. She wouldn’t. Just in case, though, maybe he could make sure…

But before those arrangements, there were others that had to be made.

Brax strode out of the TARDIS with purpose, conscious that he’d already lost a few minutes arguing with Ace. He had to prepare the CIA Tower for Leela and Narvin’s arrival in the future, and then get back to the TARDIS before his past self arrived there…

As he approached the CIA Tower, he was surprised to find bright light still filling the space. Why were CIA agents so irritatingly dedicated?

He entered past the foyer to where the real work was done. Over in the research area, where Brax had been putting on a show about finding Leela and Narvin earlier, sat a female agent fussing intently with a datapad.

“A bit late, isn’t it?” Braxiatel asked.

The woman jumped, blinking as she glanced up at him. “Oh. Braxiatel…sir. I’m working on a project for Coordinator Romana and—”

“The Coordinator herself has already retired and I’m sure she appreciates your work enough to want you to get some rest.”

The agent frowned, hesitating. “Very well, sir.” She shut down the datapad and promptly left, casting one last glance at him over her shoulder.

Brax knew he didn’t have that much time left. He dimmed the lights to their lowest setting and raised the blinds over the window in the foyer. He surveyed his handiwork and frowned. It wasn’t the most romantic spot, but it would do. He didn’t think it would take much after what Leela and Narvin had just been through.

He breathed in a deep sigh and nodded. The plan was fully in motion now; it was just up to Leela and Narvin about seven minutes into the future. Braxiatel left the door to the Tower open and swiftly made his way back down to the TARDIS Bay.

Once he got his TARDIS out of the way for his past self, all he had to do was let time run its course.


	3. Chapter 3

Romana knew she wouldn’t sleep that night.

Firstly, not a word had been heard from Leela and Narvin long after they should have checked in. Then, they’d gone entirely off the grid. And instead of Romana marching straight into a TARDIS and looking for them like she wanted to, she’d been detained by other pressing matters. Brax had assured her that he and Ace would find them, but the fact that she wasn’t actively doing anything to help was the reason why she was currently pacing up and down in her front room. She was a hair’s breadth away from going to the TARDIS Bay and conducting her own search now, anyway. She hadn’t heard anything from Brax and—

Her communicator chimed. Romana darted across the room and activated it. “Brax, is that you?”

“Coordinator, this is Agent Thasta. I’m sorry to disturb you at this hour, but I thought you’d like to know that I just saw Braxiatel in the CIA Tower.”

Romana raised an eyebrow. “Go on.”

“I was doing some research on the Ised incident and he just…showed up. He wanted me out of the Tower for some reason. I thought it best just to listen to him, but I wanted you to know.”

“When did this happen?”

“Around ten microspans ago. I waited outside and saw him leave the Tower not long after I did.”

Romana tightened her grip on the communicator. What was Brax playing at? “Thank you, Thasta. You did the right thing; now go ahead and get some rest.”

“I will. Goodnight, Coordinator.” There was a click as the communication shut off.

Romana took a deep breath. She strode straight out of her room and hurried down the corridor to Brax’s quarters. Her hands were balled into fists at her sides. He’d come back and _he hadn’t even told her?_

She reached his door and knocked on it sharply. “Braxiatel?” she barked.

The door opened a few seconds later. Brax appeared, still wearing the same suit he’d left in, and smiled. “Ah, Romana! I didn’t expect—”

“You didn’t _care_ to tell me that you came back? Did you find Leela and Narvin?” Her voice rang down the corridor in the stillness that followed.

Brax swallowed, but otherwise maintained his composure. “If you’d like to come in…”

“No. I want an explanation right here, right now.”

Brax sniffed. His fingers twitched. She’d ruffled him; apparently, _this_ hadn’t been part of whatever plan he was carrying out.

“Romana, I was going to tell you,” he said in a placating voice. “I just wanted to give them some time.”

 _“Time?”_ Before she could get too caught up in what he meant, she realised what else his words implied. “Then you found them. They’re safe?”

“Yes. Perfectly safe.”

Romana glared at him. “What aren’t you telling me, Brax?” She thought back through the day, how Brax had just _happened_ to show up just when she’d started to worry about Leela and Narvin, then the Ised dispute that had cropped up just at that moment, and Brax figuring out how to track Leela and Narvin. In the moment, there had been too many things going on for her to notice anything unusual, but now…

“You engineered this.” She drew herself up to her full height. _“You_ made all of this happen!”

Brax’s eyes widened. “Romana, please—”

“What could you _possibly_ have to gain from all of this?” she continued, ignoring his plea.

“Do I need anything to gain? This wasn’t about me.”

“Then what—” _Time._ He’d said Leela and Narvin needed time. “Time for what?” she mused to herself.

“They just went through a rather harrowing experience. They needed time to talk, alone. I knew you’d want to see them as soon as they returned, which was why I waited to tell you.”

“A harrowing experience? What did you do to them?”

Brax opened his mouth, then closed it. Finally, he said, very carefully, “I may have…given them a little nudge. That’s all.” He sighed. “Really, Romana, don’t try and tell me you didn’t see it too.”

Suddenly, Romana realised what _it_ was. The thing they’d all known for years. The truth that had been much too obvious not to notice. _“Oh.”_

“Someone had to do something, before—” He snapped his mouth shut.

Romana put a hand to her head. “Let me get this straight: you _deliberately_ put Leela and Narvin into a dangerous situation to force them to…oh, I don’t know, tell each other their feelings, because you’ve seen something coming—”

“I never said that. I simply know that Gallifrey is a dangerous place. We’ve all nearly lost our lives here several times over, and Leela and Narvin don’t have any lives to lose.”

She hated to admit that she saw his point, just the tiniest bit. “But to go to such extreme measures! Was it really necessary?”

Brax huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. “As stubborn as they both are, do you think it would happen under normal circumstances? Believe me, I’ve tried before. This was a last resort.”

Romana sighed. “I really don’t want to know. Just…tell me that you’re done meddling.”

“There’s hardly a need now, is there?”

It wasn’t a comforting answer.

“Narvin and Leela deserve to figure things out on their own, not to be pushed together by you!”

“Romana, don’t tell me you’re not at least a little pleased,” he said with a self-satisfied smirk.

“Well, I…” She considered for a moment how to answer. “Of course I’ve known and I’ll be glad to see them happy, but I _cannot_ condone—”

“Ha!” Braxiatel grinned. “I knew it.”

“This doesn’t mean I approve of your methods,” Romana added quickly. “And if they ever find out what you did, well…on your own head be it.”

* * *

Ace showed up at the CIA Tower early the following morning, ready to prove Brax wrong and justify wringing an answer out of him. Everything was quiet, as no one else had arrived yet, but she could see the light on in Narvin’s office.

She walked that way, genuinely wondering how Narvin was faring after the events of the previous day. He’d looked really shaken up when she and Brax had “rescued” them. So, she mustered up a cheerful “good morning…”

And stopped in her tracks a few paces away from Narvin’s office.

His door was open. Through it, she could see Leela and Narvin standing close together, holding hands, their foreheads touching as they talked too quietly for Ace to hear.

Ace wasn’t sure whether she was going to squeal, yell, laugh, or all of the above, so she quickly slapped a hand over her mouth. Instead, she settled for silently mouthing _oh my god_ to herself.

She quietly backed up, taking the utmost care not to run into anything. As she reached the exit to the Tower she quietly whispered, “Oh my god,” still not entirely comprehending what she’d just seen.

She then booked it down the corridor, breathing quickly as she headed towards Brax’s quarters. He suddenly appeared in front of her as if he’d known she’d come looking for him.

“Ace? Slow down!”

Ace skid to a stop before him. _“Oh my god!”_ she exclaimed in his face. “Did we get Leela and Narvin together?”

Braxiatel just smiled.


End file.
